


Stranger

by AloriD



Series: Faces [3]
Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Flug has terrible guilt and Black Hat only sort of helps, Gen, Implied Past Abuse, Vampire Flug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-22 16:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11970942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloriD/pseuds/AloriD
Summary: Flug tries to explain how this whole mess happened while Demencia recovers.





	Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Heeyyy guys. Uh, long time no see. This was like, half-written in July and I only just got around to finishing it, whOOPS.
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely Sycophantism!

He sat in the corner, staring down unseeing at the little device in his hands. A remote of some sort, for something, he doesn’t know. He’s just been taking it apart and putting it back together for the past few hours in a numbing, repetitive motion. The only other sounds are 5.0.5’s quiet snores and Demencia’s soft breathing. She’s recovering well; broken arm in a cast, fractured ribs healing, seemingly no signs of damage from the blood loss.

But she hasn’t woken up yet.

It’s been almost a week and Flug has scarcely left the room. He hasn’t spoken much, has slept even less. He sits in the corner farthest from Demencia’s bed and fiddles with whatever small mechanical object he has at the time. One time he had a box of parts, and he had more or less mass produced a set of inner mechanisms for...something. He doesn’t remember. Black Hat had confiscated the box and forbid him from doing so again.

There’s a sigh somewhere in the direction of the bed. His hands stopped moving for a moment. 5.0.5 grunted as he rolled over in his sleep. Flug pulled the remote apart.

He’s lost track of the hours. Everything blends together and all he can feel is the crushing guilt. His fear of what happened, what will happen, _what could have happened_. His face is dry but it’s only because he had run out of tears the first day. There are a lot things he’s feeling but mostly, he’s just numb to it.

Black Hat hasn’t asked him anything, hasn’t yelled at him for being useless, hasn’t demanded that he suck it up and go back to work. Flug thought he would have. The demon wasn’t known for such...kindness? It’s strange, and it made Flug nervous.

He doesn’t understand Black Hat, but then again he never really had.

Flug let out a sigh, hands falling still, and glanced up out the window. It wasn’t a spectacular view by any means, being mostly the rooftops of neighboring houses. In the distance, he could faintly see the shape of a jetliner. He idly wondered what model it was.

The door opened, noise barely there, but enough for him to hear. He doesn't turn around, watching the plane track slowly across the sky, even as Black Hat stepped over to check on Demencia’s progress.

“Flug.”

A soft clatter of the remote falling to the floor, the scientist jolting in his seat, hands flying up against his chest. Black Hat stared down at him, expression unreadable, leaning against the wall with arms folded. Neither of them moved for a moment, gaze locked on the others.

Then, a trembling breath, “Sir…”

Flug looked down at his feet, at the little device that had come apart when it hit the ground. He didn’t pick it up. A dull warmth curled in his chest, shame and guilt trying to eat away at the numbness. He flinched when his boss started speaking again, despite the uncharacteristic low tone.

“Are you ready to explain yourself now?”

His throat seemed to close up, making it hard to breath. He swallowed heavily before responding in barely more than a whisper.

“Wh-where...where do you want me to s-start…?”

It looked for a moment like his boss wanted to say some snappy comeback, but paused instead. When he spoke, it was slowly. “Your previous employer…”

Flug swallowed heavily. Black Hat’s head tilted, his one eye locked on the other’s goggles.

“The file they had stated you were human…” It had a picture as well. A younger Flug standing next to another scientist, hair pulled into a messy ponytail, dark brown eyes focused on the camera. He had seemed confident then, almost cocky even. “When did that change?”

The scientist curled in on himself, just a little. “Ah… A few years after I s-started, I guess? I don’t…”

One hand gripped at a sleeve, fingers curling into the fabric. “I don’t want to remember it… please…”

But he would have to, wouldn’t he? He was starting to remember now, and of course Black Hat wouldn’t really care how he felt about it. The demon just wanted to know the facts of it, no emotions involved.

“Flug.”

He looked up at his name, spoken softer than he had ever heard it. Black Hat’s face was still impassive, brows furrowed, but he didn’t seem angry. Or at least, he wasn’t glaring. And he spoke again in that same, soft tone.

“Who was it?”

A tiny tremor started in his hands. His fingers curled tighter into his sleeve.

“...Nocturn.”

It was barely a whisper, but he knew Black Hat had heard. Some part of him was angry at the inherent terror that the name of his last boss came with. It was distant through the cold that seemed to creep up from his core. Flug had to force his next words out.

“I wasn’t...th-the only o-one though—I w-wasn’t alone. The others…s-some of th-them were...they d-didn’t…” He tried to swallow and found he couldn’t. There was the sound of someone letting out a long breath, before Black Hat spoke again.

“That’s enough.”

Flug felt his body relax a miniscule amount, his gaze returning to Black Hat’s. There was a peculiar curiosity there, just a brief glimpse before the demon turned to look at Demencia’s prone form.

“Your bite...what does it do?”

The sudden shift in topic was jarring, Flug’s thoughts left fuzzy, scrambled, and confused, “Wh-what?”

There was a growling undertone in Black Hat’s voice now, “Your _bite_. It...burned when you bit me. Why?”

“I-” He stared at the demon, still disoriented. It took a few moments for the idea to click, though that didn’t make him any less confused, “It’s-it’s paralytic. It’s meant to in-incapacitate our...prey, n-not harm them. It f-filters from the b-blood eventually, like-like alcohol...”

The eldritch hummed, almost as if in realization. But again, the next question was a different topic entirely, “How have you been sneaking out?”

Flug squirmed in his seat, making Black Hat glance at him and raise an eyebrow. He unclenched his hand from his sleeve, moving instead to fiddle with his fingers. Now that the cold fear was passing, he was starting to feel restless.

“I uh. I haven’t been. N-not really.”

His boss’s eyebrow rose further.

“I mean! At least I t-try not to! I’ve used our l-live subjects b-but...some of them, b-because of what I’m t-testing them with...it, ah. It makes their blood, uh, un...unpalatable...” The scientist clasped his hands together, pausing for a moment.

“But when we don’t...I...I mean, I made the s-security system, so it’s easy to, uh, to shut down th-the cameras...And usually, everyone is, everyone is already asleep w-when I leave, and I’m o-only out for an hour, maybe an hour and uh, and a half…”

He trailed off, staring vaguely at Black Hat’s shoulder, unable to look at his boss’s face. The demon let out a low hum, shifting slightly against the wall.

A different noise drew both of their attentions to the bed. Flug felt guilt surge up again as Demencia turned her head, eyelids fluttering.

They watched as she slowly regained consciousness, her brows furrowed. A few fingers twitched, as if she was trying to lift her arm. After a couple minutes, the hybrid was able to focus on Black Hat.

Demencia opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came. Frowning, she swallowed a few times and tried again. The rasp in her throat made Flug drop his eyes to the floor.

“...didja get th’plate of th’car thah hit me?”

Black Hat snorted, “Of course something that ridiculous would be the first thing you say.”

“...got you t’laugh...”

“ _Hardly_.”

His shoulders were trembling. He couldn’t look at her.

“Whahappen...?”

“Flug is a vampire.” The scientist choked at the blunt statement, inhaling too quickly and sending himself into a coughing fit. Black Hat ignored him and continued.

“He decided to be _even more_ of an idiot than usual and ended up attacking you, as well as 5.0.5 and myself.”

Flug clutched at his chest, doubling over in his chair.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Flug.”

He wheezed as the coughing fit subsided. There was silence then, apart from his heavy breathing.

“...Oh. S’cool I guess…”

That made him jerk up, meeting Demencia’s drowsy but seemingly content face. She was smiling at him.

He didn’t understand. “I almost kill you and _‘it’s cool I guess’_?!”

“Didja mean to…?”

Flug froze, “...what?”

The hybrid rolled her eyes at him, “Didja mean...t’attack me?”

“I—Of course not! I-”

“Then s’cool.”

There was a soft flump as the scientist dropped back into the chair, not even aware he had stood up in the first place, stunned. His mind was blank shock. That was it? She had almost died because of him, and she didn’t seem to care? Distantly, he heard Black Hat say something before the sound of footsteps leaving the room reached him.

Demencia was still smiling at him. She seemed a little more aware now, even if she couldn’t move that much. Flug looked uncomprehendingly down at his hands, trying to wrap his head around what she said. A moment later, he realized she was calling his name.

“Flug. Hey, Flugbug. Earth to doctor nerd, you still alive in there?”

He looked up and blinked, focusing on her. She had a different sort of smile, one he didn’t quite process.

“Does this mean I can see what you look like now? I couldn’t get a proper look before.”

There was something in her gaze that said she was just teasing him, even if she did want to know. But…

Flug watched her eyes widen, slowly reaching to pull off his headgear. The bag crinkled softly in his fingers, and he clenched his eyes shut before removing it all together. After a moment, he dared to open them again.

Her mouth was open slightly, forming a little ‘o’. The scientist shifted under her searching gaze, knowing what he looked like. He was hyper aware of each detail: inhuman yellow eyes, pointed ears, the dark scars that littered his right cheek and nose. The longer she stared without moving, the more self-conscious Flug became.

He was just about to move to put the bag back on when, “Oh damn, you’re cute.”

An actual squeak escaped his throat. Demencia laughed as he turned pink and started spluttering. He jammed the bag over his head, prompting further teasing, “Aaawww, Flug, are you being shy~?”

“S-shut up-!”

Flug buried his face in his hands as she continued laughing. It was soft and hoarse, but still genuine and playful. It was all Demencia. He smiled, feeling as if everything was going to be okay for once.

 

 

 

 

“So like...does this mean I’m gonna turn into a vampire too?”

“Ah-no. It-it doesn’t work like that…”

“Damn. I was looking forward to turning into a bat.”

“That’s not...that’s just a myth-”

“You’re no fun!”

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, here's the deal my dudes. I'm going to link you to a post about fics I should write in the future. They're all Villainous and include more in Faces, but there are a wide variety of ideas I have. The post will explain everything else:
> 
> succulentgeckos.tumblr.com/post/164829693574/  
> (Be aware that my blog itself is 18+, so if you're a minor, don't go exploring please.)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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